What’s Done in the Dark by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

Greg at home to celebrate their fifteenth wedding anniversary with rose petals leading upstairs to the bedroom. Greg comes in and begins vacuuming the petals believing someone spilled something creating a mess all over the house, which causes an argument with Felise regarding his forgetfulness of their anniversary. Felise flees the house, heads straight for the Four Seasons Hotel bar, and sees her best friend from college, Steven, who is now married to her best friend Paula from Felise’s matchmaking efforts.

Paula, mother of four, is at her limit being a housewife with no reprieve in sight while her husband Steven works and able to enjoy work-related out-of-town trips resulting in Paula’s decision to terminate her marriage as soon as Steven come home. After refusing Steven’s invitation to join him at the Four Seasons Hotel bar lounge for his business meeting, Paula may regret her decision once she realizes that Steven is never coming back.

Felise and Steven’s night turns into an evening to remember which brings deep secrets, blackmail, loss of friendship, destruction of marriage, and forgiveness painfully to the forefront for everyone involved. How will Felise survive relationships built on love and trust that are currently thriving on lies, deceit, and guilt?

What’s Done in the Dark has an interesting storyline of betrayal and forgiveness between friends that have years of friendship teetering on a high rope towards destruction. The novel keeps you engaged as the pages turn leading into a long dark tunnel with a speck of light at the end. The story may have been enhanced with the cutting of one or two chapters through the editing process as it grasped for extra wording to complete a novel already brought to full completion. Nonetheless, this book is a necessary read to finish a summer reading list or to begin a new list in the fall months.

I received this book from the publisher Gallery Books through the Net Galley reviewer program for an unbiased opinion in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission guidelines.